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WEEKLY UPDATE
Dingos evolved from Asian pets
WASHINGTON: Dingoes, the yellow native dogs of Australia, probably evolved from a very small group of pets brought by south-east Asian settlers, researchers reported on Monday.
Genetic tests on dingoes and a range of dogs from around the world show the animals can date their ancestry back 5,000 years, to either a single female or a very small group of animals, the international team of researchers said.
This coincides nicely with the arrival in Australia of settlers from southeast Asia, they said in this week’s issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“The dingo originated from a population of east Asian dogs,” said Peter Savolainen of the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and colleagues there and in New Zealand, Australia and the United States.
“The dingoes may have arrived in connection with the expansion, about 6,000 years ago, from South China into Island Southeast Asia of the Austronesian culture,” they added. —Reuters
Spacecraft Messenger blasts off toward Mercury
WASHINGTON: US spacecraft Messenger lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, early Tuesday on a six-year exploratory journey toward Mercury, the closet planet to the Sun.
With Messenger safely nestled in its payload bay, a massive Delta II rocket roared off from its launching pad at about 2:16 am (0616 GMT), turning in a matter of seconds from a fire-breathing giant into a tiny speck of light in the sky.
Minutes after launch, the Delta rocket released the refrigerator-sized probe on the first leg of its 7.9-billion-kilometre odyssey through the solar system.
The probe will try to tackle questions left unanswered by a similar mission towards Mercury undertaken by NASA three decades ago. Probe Mariner 10 sailed past the planet three times in 1974 and 1975 but was able to gather data on less than half of its surface.
By contrast, Messenger is packed with state-of-the-art technological marvels, capable of bombarding the Mercury surface with gamma- and X-rays and neutrons, laser beams and measure its magnetic fields. — APP
Thailand bans orangutan kickboxing fights
BANGKOK: Thailand has banned controversial kickboxing fights between endangered orangutans following an international outcry over the bouts at a popular Bangkok wildlife park, it was reported here on Wednesday.
The orangutans, wearing boxing gloves and garish Thai shorts, had appeared daily at Safari World wildlife park for the past two decades.
The ban follows allegations of cruelty and the confiscation of 110 orangutans at Safari World by Thai police on Friday that they suspected had been smuggled illegally from Indonesia and Malaysia, according to the Bangkok Post. —AFP
Prince Charles’ home opens for visitors
LONDON: Clarence House, the London home of heir to the British throne Prince Charles and his sons, was getting a final polish and brush on Tuesday ahead of its opening-up to tourists.
It will be only the second year that visitors will be able to take a peek inside the grand early-19th century pile in the centre of the capital, which was previously home to Charles’s grandmother the Queen Mother for 50 years.
The royal family has in recent years opened up a series of homes to tourists.
Since 1993, visitors have been able to troop around Buckingham Palace, Queen Elizabeth’s London home, but only during July and August when the monarch is generally enjoying the distant peace of her Scottish estate, Balmoral. —AFP
Bullfighting has existed since antiquity
PARIS: Bullfighting, an art form pitting man against beast for fans but an act of barbarity for critics, has existed in one form or another since antiquity.
Ancient Greek paintings show a contest of some sort between men and bulls, and bullfights were popular shows in imperial Rome.
But it was in Spain that the practice took on the form most commonly seen today. In the Middle Ages, it was a sport for Spanish aristocrats, who attacked bulls while riding on horseback.
In the 18th century commoners took it up and began fighting bulls on foot by leaping over them, using rags to sidestep them, and stabbing them with small lances.
The “corrida” as it is now practised was thus established and its manoeuvres, costumes and weapons were developed over the following decades.
Spain remains the epicentre of bullfighting, but the practice is common in other Latin countries such as Portugal, Mexico, Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia and Peru. It also is popular in the south of France. —AFP
Indonesia issues climbing ban as volcano lets off steam
JAKARTA: Indonesian national park officials on Wednesday said they have banned hikers from tackling one of the country’s popular mountains following an increase in volcanic activity on the peak.
Agung Nugrono, a spokesman for Sumatra island’s Kerincia Seblat National Park, which includes the 3,860-metre Mount Kerinci, said the ban was issued to halt a traditional influx of crowds ahead of a national holiday.
Increasing volcanic activities have been recorded in Kerinci since June, with the volcano sporadically emitting smoke and noxious sulphur fumes that have even reached areas around the foot of the mountain, Nugroho said.
Indonesia sits on the “Pacific Rim of Fire” noted for its volcanic and seismic activity. The country has more than 100 active volcanoes. —AFP
Six dead as light aircraft slams into home
AUSTIN: Six people were killed Tuesday when a light aircraft slammed into a home in a suburb of Austin, central Texas, US media reported.
All the fatalities were on board the small plane, the Austin Statesman newspaper reported.
Three people were inside the house when it was struck a little before 12:00 pm (1700 GMT), but were not injured, witness Ellen Roberts told the Austin news channel, News 8 Austin. —AFP
Lightning kills boy
LONDON: A 14-year-old boy was killed by lightning on Tuesday as violent storms swept across Britain causing flooding in the capital and closing down sections of London’s underground train system, police said.
The youngster was killed when lightning struck as he played in the garden of his home in the central English town of Bloxwich.
In London, four 15-year-old girls were rushed to hospital after they were struck by lightning at Speakers’ Corner in Hyde Park, police said. —AFP
Piranha bites boy
HONG KONG: A 14-year old boy needed three stitches in his finger after being bitten by a piranha while playing in a public fountain in Hong Kong.
The piranha — which has its origins in warm South American rivers and can devour whole cows when hunting in packs — is a popular fish in Hong Kong home aquariums and can be bought in Mongkok pet shops for less than HK$100 a pair (US$12.80).
The bleeding teenager was taken to a local hospital on Monday night and was said to be in a stable condition, Hong Kong newspapers reported. —Reuters
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